# Client Portal Settings

Give a client their own login: what they see, how to invite them, and how to fix an account that came out wrong.

The **client portal** gives a customer their own login to see their jobs, their invoices and their statements, and to request a tow without phoning you. Logins are managed under **Clients → Portal Users**.

## Invite a client

1. Open **Clients → Portal Users** and press **+ Add Portal User**.
2. Enter their **email address** - this is how they sign in, and where the welcome email goes.
3. Enter **their name**. This is how the portal greets them. Leave it blank and the portal uses the client's name, or their email address if no client is linked.
4. Choose their **client**. This decides whose jobs and invoices they can see.
5. Press **Create & Send Invite**. They get a welcome email with a link to choose their own password.

> Leaving **Client** on *Match automatically by email address* is fine when the address already exists on the client record - we link it for you. Pick the client explicitly when you are not sure.

## What the client sees

- **Dashboard** - their job count, what they owe, and their most recent activity.
- **Jobs** - every job on their account, with status and photos.
- **Invoices** - their invoices, with a **Pay now** button when online payments are switched on.
- **Statements** - account customers can download or email their own statement, so they stop asking you for it.
- **Request a Tow** - a booking form that lands in your dispatch queue.

> A portal login only ever sees the client it is linked to. Two people at the same company can each have their own login on the same client.

## An account that is not linked

The **Client** column shows **Unlinked** when a login is not attached to a client record. That account can sign in, but it has nothing to show - no jobs, no invoices, and no Statements tab.

1. Press the word **Unlinked** in the Client column (or **Edit** on the row).
2. Set their **name** and choose their **client**.
3. Press **Save changes**. Their history appears immediately - they do not need to sign in again.

> The same **Edit** action fixes an account attached to the wrong client. Their email address cannot be changed here, because it is how they sign in - delete the login and re-invite them to move someone to a new address.

## Suspend, reactivate, delete

- **Suspend** - they cannot sign in, and nothing is lost. Use this when someone leaves a company.
- **Activate** - restores a suspended login.
- **Delete** - removes the login for good. Their client record, jobs and invoices are untouched.

> A login that has confirmed a payment cannot be deleted - that record has to survive. Suspend it instead. This protects your payment history, so it is deliberate rather than a limitation.